At the Australian Open final, despite a marathon semifinal match, Nadal had adequate reserves to stare down Federer in another five setter.  With that victory, Nadal seemed well positioned to achieve the calendar grand slam.  After sweeping every clay court tournament, Nadal was halted at the Madrid Masters by Federer days prior to the French Open. For many analysts, fatigue may have been deserving of an assist as Federer defeated Nadal in straight sets to capture his initial title of 2009. As such, Nadal was still considered the outright favorite for a fifth consecutive French trophy.

While everyone may have discounted Robin Soderling in the fourth round at the French Open, the Swede who played a contentious match with Nadal at Wimbledon in 2007 had visions of victory dancing in his head.  Soderling upstaged the best clay player in circulation, handing Nadal his first defeat at Roland Garros.  Soderling rode this euphoric wave all the way to his first final at a major where he was ultimately stopped by Federer. In addition, Soderling was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open.  At his initial ATP World Tour Finals, Soderling was a semifinalist and with that result jumped to a career best ranking of 8th after commencing 2008 at 17.

Melbourne was the site where Fernando Verdasco at last  lived up to his talent.  After surprising Andy Murray the hottest player on tour in the fourth round, Verdasco was involved in a dogfight in the semifinals with countryman Nadal.  Hands down, the best match of the tournament and one of the most scintillating of the year, the two Spaniards went toe to toe for over five hours.  Although Nadal was triumphant, Verdasco’s run in Australia galvanized him the rest of the year.  Verdasco reached the quarters at the U.S. Open and was instrumental in Davis Cup play. Verdasco participated in his first ATP World Tour Finals and ended 2009 at number 9.

After an horrendous start to the season, Federer’s year turned around after beating Nadal in Madrid in May. After avoiding a sleuth of pitfalls to get to the French Open final, Federer grabbed the elusive brass ring and tied Pete Sampras’ record of 14 majors.  With a knee injury placing Wimbledon defending champ Nadal out of action, the impossibility of a Federer-Nadal duel could have been deflating for the championships.  To the contrary, Andy Roddick stepped up to the plate and in facing Federer, the two had a final to rival last year’s epic.  Federer had to out ace Roddick, required 95 minutes and 30 games in the fifth set before coming away with the victory and a record setting 15 majors.  In July, Federer supplanted Nadal at the top of the ATP’s ranking list.  Brimming with confidence, Federer appeared unstoppable and was a shoe-in for a sixth consecutive  title in New York.

At the U.S. Open, Federer battled Del Potro in the final.  With this being the latter’s maiden major final, jitters were more likely than not to play a pivotal role.  In spite of his youth, Del Potro demonstrated that he is a quick study.  After a devastating lost to Federer in the French semifinals, down two sets to one, Del Potro carried a tiebreaker and showed up Federer in the fifth set to capture his initial major. Del Potro closed 2009 as the world’s fifth best player and is a definite threat to take over the top spot in 2010.

While Murray shone at the Masters and lower tournaments, he hit a wall at the majors. After a 2008 U.S. Open final appearance, for Murray reaching the round of 16 in Australia and New York, the semis at Wimbledon and quarters at Roland Garros was a let down. Moreover, Murray displaced Nadal at number 2 in August prior to U.S. Open.  However, by year’s end, Murray fell back to his designated post of number 4.

Like Murray, Djokovic‘s season can be categorized as ok. The 2008 Australian Open champion had a quarterfinal run in Australia and Wimbledon while getting to the semifinals in New York.  Djokovic picked up steam toward the end with titles in Beijing, Basel versus Federer and at the Paris Masters. With the addition of Todd Martin to his coaching team, Djokovic will certainly be a force in the upcoming year.

Besides Del Potro, Marin Cilic is another youngster who generated a lot of talk.  Cilic got to his first quarterfinal at a major at the U.S. Open in ousting Murray and seized two titles.  In addition,  Cilic was key in Croatia’s run to the semifinals in Davis Cup.  Thus, this gigantic Croat will be someone to keep a close eye on in 2010.

Every season, there’s a veteran competitor who rediscovers and dips into the fountain of youth. This year, that person was Tommy Haas.  After struggling with injury throughout his career, Haas was one Federer forehand shy of making it to the quarterfinals at the French Open.  The German star then excelled on grass, beating Djokovic for his first title on that surface. That momentum carried Haas to his first semifinal at a major since 2007. At Wimbledon, Haas was once more blocked by Federer.  At age 31, Haas catapulted from a spot of 82nd  to 18 at the closure of 2009.

Dependable Davydenko!  For Nikolay Davydenko, that is an applicable label. For the past few years, not only has Davydenko been a workhorse, he’s been consistent. After missing a few weeks early on in the season with a foot injury, Davydenko dropped out of the top ten to 12 for the first time since 2005. Also, in skipping the Australian Open, Davydenko severed his streak of 29 consecutive majors.  Still, Davydenko terminated the season with a flurry.  After shocking Nadal in the final of the Masters in Shanghai, Davydenko rammed through Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals and brushed aside Del Potro for his most prestigious career trophy.  For his hard work, Davydenko was rewarded with number 6 ranking at tournament’s end.

The Frenchmen were in the headlines both on and off the court. Richard Gasquet had to deal with doping charges despite withdrawing from competition at the Sony Ericsson Open.  Gasquet was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing but his ranking took a severe blow.  Formerly at number 7 in 2008, Gasquet is now 52nd in the world.  Jo Wilfried Tsonga failed to capitalize on his 2008 success in Australia, with only a quarterfinal finish in Melbourne and dismal postings at the other majors.  On the other hand, Gael Monfils revealed a glimmer of the promise that made him a standout in the juniors.  Monfils cracked the top ten for the first time in March and completed the season at 13th.  Fabrice Santoro, the magician, who provided so many great moments and gave a new meaning to longevity finally took leave of the game.  It will be hard to encounter anyone who can match Santoro’s flair and style.

On the subject of uniqueness, 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open champion Marat Safin bid farewell to the sport.  A colorful and volatile player, Safin never won another title after Australia and in many people’s eyes failed to fully realize his potential. The game will be a tad less animated with his absence.

The Davis Cup belonged to Spain for the fourth time this decade.  Overflowing with aptitude, Spain wrapped up the trophy in two days, as David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Verdasco and Nadal crushed the Czech Republic.

The doubles pair of Mike and Bob Bryan struggled most of the year after taking the Australian Open.  At Wimbledon, the Bryan brothers were bested by defending champs Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic.  The latter spent most of the last half of the season ranked number one and managed a total of nine titles including five Masters series trophy.  However, after winning the ATP World Tour Finals title, the Bryan brothers regained the number one ranking after having slipped to number 3.  For veteran Leander Paes and partner Lukas Dhouly, 2009 was low volume in terms of titles; yet, the two that this team won were significant since they were the French and U.S. Open.  Paes and Dhouly finished the year as the fourth best team in doubles.

Former tennis star Andre Agassi shifted focus from the court to shenanigans occurring off field.  In his book ‘Open’, Agassi disclosed his struggles with methamphetamine in 1997 and his deception of the rules committee in testing positive.  Agassi also divulged candid details about his first marriage, his love-hate relationship with the sport and his preoccupation with his hair piece which may have been partly responsible for his lost to Andres Gomez at the French Open in 1990.

The last couple of  years, Federer and Nadal have had a firm grip on the top two rankings. In 2009, Nadal’s palm was loosen temporarily by Murray.  With injury always plaguing the Spaniard and with Federer’s forehand becoming erratic again toward the last part of the season, foretelling of a probable shakedown by Djokovic, Murray or Del Potro at the top in 2010 may not be a hyperbole.

If one thought her ousting of Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon this year was a fluke, Melanie Oudin said think again. The17 year old American Fed Cup heroine bounced back after dropping the first set to defeat a trophy favorite world number 4 Elena Dementieva in the second round. On Saturday, Oudin duplicated that result by ousting 29th seed Maria Sharapova.  In the round of 16, Oudin will take on her fourth consecutive Russian Nadia Petrova.  Moreover, in the quarterfinals, Melanie may have a shot at claiming another Russian big scalp, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Speaking of Jankovic, the 2008 finalist was eliminated in the second round by Yaroslava Shvedova.  Another jaw dropper was the exit of  8th seed and  reigning Sony Open champion Victoria Azarenka sent packing in the third round by Francesca Schiavone.

Despite teetering on the brink of disaster, Dinara Safina had managed to record a W. However yesterday, Safina was ultimately pushed over the cliff in the third round by Czech teenage talent Petra Kvitova. The world number’s one performance has ignited the debate as to the relevance of the computer ranking system.  Since Justine Henin’s retirement, there’s been a conspicuous vacuum at the top of the ladies’ game.  Safina’s inability to embrace the big occasions while Serena Williams has flourished in that setting has fueled the discussion.  Unlike Safina, the defending champion has shown little compassion for her opponents in reaching the round of 16. In contrast, sister Venus’ performance has been a mixed bag with injury thrown in as a factor. Venus’ colossal test comes in the fourth round as she faces Kim Clijsters whose form appears unaffected by her sabbatical.  Unless Venus tidies up her game, the Belgian will foil her much anticipated semifinal with Serena. The free fall continues for 2008 French open winner and former world number one Ana Ivanovic as her stock took another hit with her first round departure. In all 21 of the 32 women seeds have failed to move pass the fourth round.

All the top male seeds advanced safely through the second round.  However, in the third round, America’s most promising prospect 5th seed Andy Roddick was victimized by compatriot John Isner in a five set brawl. James Blake and Sam Querrey were also stopped in the third round. Injury plagued Taylor Dent has been thriving and is in third round.   But today,  Dent’s run might be ended by 2008 runner up Andy Murray. Despite coming up short against Novak Djokovic, Naples’ Jesse Witten provided many memorable moments by getting his furthest at a major. 2000 champion Marat Safin and tour veteran Fabrice Santoro struck their last ball at the open. Defending champion Roger Federer booked his ticket into the round of 16 in spite of some intricate matches, while his nemesis Rafael Nadal has looked like the player of old convincingly ushering his rivals out.  Resistance has been futile from Juan Martin Del Potro and Murray’s opponents as they march towards a possible quarterfinal clash.

Looking ahead, with the top half of the women’s draw in tatters, the idea of a teenager such as Caroline Wozniacki, Oudin or Kvitova making it to her first major final is not far fetch.  Perhaps Kuznetsova, the highest seed in that section, will seize the moment by making it to her second major final this year.  Regardless, many will agree that it’s Serena’s open to win or lose.

On the men’s side, other than Del Potro who could upset the apple cart, it’s unlikely that one of the top four will not become the eventual winner.  The only question is whether Murray will satiate the Brit’s hunger for a major’s champion or whether Nadal will complete the career grand slam ironically in the same year as Federer or whether will Roger continue his dominance by hoisting the U.S. open trophy for the sixth time.

This Monday, the most talented men and women in tennis will initiate the process of deciding who will walk away with the year’s second major. While Rafael Nadal is unequivocally the favorite on the men’s side, the women’s potential champion is much harder to predict.

Although Nadal going down to Roger Federer in Madrid added spice to the contest, the Spaniard remains the one with the target on his back. Fellow countrymen David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco, possible fourth round and quarterfinal opponents respectively, could provide further intrigue to the plot. But, Nadal has had no trouble dealing with either man during his spectacular clay court run. The most anticipated semifinal match up could be Nadal versus Brit Andy Murray. Murray showed moments of brilliance in their semifinal meeting in Monte Carlo which he lost. Murray may need to go through Spaniard Albert Montanes, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, pesky Czech Radek Stepanek or Marat Safin, a semifinalist in 2008. So Murray’s will have a mount to climb before getting to Nadal.

On paper, Federer should reach the quarterfinals without difficulties. However, lurking in Roger’s section are James Blake, Tomas Berdych and a couple Spaniards, any of them could serve as spoilers. In the quarters, Federer could face Andy Roddick. Yet, Roddick could have a rough time getting past his rivals since clay is not his best surface. Serb Novak Djokovic and Federer could meet in the semifinals. Having come back from a set and a break down to prevail their last two encounters, Novak will have confidence squarely in his corner. However, standing in Djokovic’s way in the preliminary rounds may be former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, top ten players Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro and Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.

With defending champion Ana Ivanovic sporadically competing the last few weeks because of injury, repeating is unlikely. Undoubtedly, Ivanovic will probably be tested from the first round by Italian Sara Errani. World number one and 2008 finalist, Dinara Safina has shone on clay with two premier titles and consequently could be considered a slim favorite. But, nothing will be a gimme for the top seed with Victoria Azarenka, Carla Suarez Navarro or Venus Williams searching to make waves at Safina’s expense. Venus may encounter German Sabine Lisicki in the second round. Lisicki beat Venus in Charleston. Two Russians returning from injury, Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova, could clash in the early rounds. It would be surprising if either makes it past the quarterfinals.

Although Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva have had disappointing results recently, each has the experience to make it to the final and become champion. However, potential troublemakers from the bottom half of the draw include Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dane Caroline Wozniacki and Italian Flavia Pennetta, all have had success on clay lately. For complete details, log on to the official French Open web site at www.rolandgarros.com

With Swiss cowbells ringing, Wawrinka won the first game with a forehand volley. Thereafter, things got sticky pretty fast for the Swiss. In two subsequent service games, Wawrinka went down love-30 and also faced a break point. Still, with a few unforced errors by Roddick, Wawrinka held serve. However, it was just a matter of time before Stanislas had to pay the piper. The debt came due in the seventh game. When Wawrinka missed a crosscourt backhand, Roddick got his second break point. Then, with a little luck, Roddick’s stroke skidded off the line, leading to a backhand error from Wawrinka and the break advantage. With his overpowering serve, Roddick grabbed the set.

The initial game of the second set was a replay of the first. Again, Wawrinka held serve for 1-0 with a forehand crosscourt volley winner. But, after Roddick cruised through his service game, Wawrinka was in dire straights afresh. With a backhand down the line winner and a volley error by his adversary, Andy had double break point. When Stanislas misconnected on an overhead, Roddick jumped ahead 2-1. The Swiss was irate, slamming his racket to the ground because he felt that the ball bounced twice on the American’s previous stroke. Except, there was no conclusive evidence that this was the case. In fact, Andy appeared to have trapped the ball. Thus, Wawrinka’s and the Swiss team’s protest fell on deaf ears. With Roddick able to neutralize Wawrinka’s masterful stroke, the backhand, and with the Swiss forced to sure up his least comfortable shot, the forehand; one break was enough for Roddick to capture the second set.

Wawrinka tried to stay positive and started the third set with a hold. With no cracks in the Roddick’s serve, Wawrinka could ill afford any further errors. Yet, in the third game, with backhand and forehand crosscourt errors, then two forehand up the line errors, Wawrinka dug himself a deeper hole in giving Roddick the break for 2-1. With solid and steady play, Roddick satisfied with letting his rival take the risk, stretched his lead to 5-2 when Wawrinka netted a forehand. With Andy serving, Stanislas misfired on another backhand securing the victory for the American. In the day’s last rubber, Blake beat Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets 6-4, 7-6.

On Friday, the Americans got off to a dicey. After Blake took the first set in the opening rubber, he lost the next three against Wawrinka 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-7. Roddick saved the day by prevailing in the second rubber. Roddick got on the roll the first two sets. Despite Chiudinelli hanging on in third, Roddick closed it out in the tiebreak 6-1, 6-3, 7-6.

Saturday, Mike and Bob Bryan dominated Yves Allegro and Wawrinka for two sets in the doubles match. The Swiss managed to take the third set and fought hard in the fourth. That latter set was decided in a tiebreak which the Bryans ruled 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. With that conquest the Bryans gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead and became the winningest twosome in U.S. Davis cup history.

In July, the Americans will travel to Croatia for the quarterfinals. Led by Marin Cilic, Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic, the Croatians crushed Chile taking all five rubbers. In that section of the draw, the Netherlands was no match for Argentina. The Argentines ran the table and will battle the Czech Republic in the next round. Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych outlasted the French despite Giles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet competing.

With the bad weather damaging the stadium, matches between Spain and Serbia were deferred to Saturday. Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and the rest of the crew easily handled Novak Djokovic and company. Now, Spain will butt heads with Germany at home. Germany defeated Austria as Nicolas Kiefer secured the fourth rubber. Russia had no problem with Romania with Marat Safin, Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny in attendance. Russia will meet Israel in the quarterfinals. As Israel and Sweden competed in a spectator free stadium, all matches went to five sets. Israel prevailed 8-6 in the ultimate rubber and will host the Russians. No word yet on whether or not the Russian-Israeli face-off will also be closed to the public.

At the XXI Hyundai Hopman Cup, a tournament celebrating mixed doubles play, Slovakians Dominik Hrbaty and Dominika Cibulkova surprised the brother and sister team of Marat Safin and Dinara Safina to win that country’s third trophy in Perth, Australia. In the first match, Cibulkova, undefeated in singles this week, beat Safina for the first time in her career 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 while Hrbaty prevailed in the second rubber against Safin 6-7, 7-5, 7-6.

Nineteen year-old Cibulkova, also the world number 19, was aggressive from the first ball strike against world number 3, Safina. With the score tied at 2 in the first set, Cibulkova smoked a backhand down the line, which resulted in an unforced error from Safina for break point. With Dinara unable to dig out a low volley, Dominika pocketed the break. However, Safina quickly bounced back to square the set at 3 all. The Russian then held serve easily for 5-4 and had triple break point. But, with great defense and a few unforced errors from her opponent, the Slovakian escaped. The set was ultimately settled in a tiebreak. After Cibulkova gifted Safina a minibreak by missing an easy forehand volley, she gift-wrapped the set for Safina with a double fault.

With amnesia her ally, Cibulkova shrugged off the miscues from the prior set and drew first blood. Thanks to a string of unforced errors by Safina, Cibulkova took a 2-1 lead. More importantly, the Slovakian relentlessly attacked the Russian’s forehand side which had become a liability and sprinted to a double break lead. Cibulkova closed out the second set with a love game. As Safina’s forehand woes continued in the third set, Cibulkova built up a double break lead at 5-1. Yet, Safina refused to surrender and held despite a tough game for 2-5. With the teenager forced to close out the match, Cibulkova committed a forehand error of her own to keep Safina alive for 5-3. But, on her second attempt, after fighting off two break points, Cibulkova secured the first rubber when another forehand from Safina went array.

In the second match, Safin appeared to have caught his sister’s case of “forehanditis”. Yet, the Russian’s serve extricated him from several sticky situations. In the end, the first set went to a tiebreak which Safin won with a beautiful backhand winner. The second set was leveled until the ninth game when Hrbaty broke to inch ahead. However, Safin got a good bite on Hrbaty’s serve to force a forehand error from the Slovakian and square the set. Later, Hrbaty tracked down an overhead and was rewarded with a break point when Safin dumped the next shot into the net. Hrbaty then converted for a 6-5 lead. Subsequently, with his first ace of the night, Hrbaty wrapped up the second set. In the fourth game of the decisive set, Hrbaty got bailed out of love-40 by good serves and a few unforced errors from Safin. From then on, neither man troubled the other’s serve. So, the third was decided in a tiebreak. After trading minibreaks, Hrbaty took a commanding 6-3 lead when Safin misconnected on a forehand and backhand down the line. Then with two strong serves, Hrbaty shut the door on the Russians.

For the third consecutive week, Serbian Jelena Jankovic faced a Russian in the finals. At the Kremlin Cup, her opponent was Vera Zvonareva. The result was the same, as Jankovic beat Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4.

Zvonareva’s first tier I final in front of a partisan crowd was not a delightful experience. After opening the match with a forehand crosscourt winner, Vera threw away a game point and with a bunch of errors gave Jankovic the break. Subsequently, Jelena literally pinned Vera into a corner resulting in four straight forehand errors for a love game 2-0. After blowing a 40-15 lead, Zvonareva finally got on the scoreboard after Jankovic produced a couple of forehand errors of her own 1-2. After holding serve comfortably, Jelena pressured Vera with her deep groundstrokes resulting in four consecutive forehand errors on the Russian’s best shot. Now, the Serb had a double break lead 4-1, then, dominated to take the first set.

Just as she had done in the first set, Jankovic started out the second by imposing her game. A sequence of unforced errors by Zvonareva gave her triple break point; Jankovic capitalized by curling in a forehand winner from way off the court. Despite being frustrated, Vera did not wither. After a backhand down the line by Jankovic misconnected, the players were at deuce. Later, Zvonareva connected on a sensational topspin lob for a break point which she converted 1-1. At that point, momentum appeared to have shifted. Moreover, Zvonareva obtained another break point when Jankovic misfired on a ball that skidded off the line. However, successive unforced errors by Vera equalized the set at 2-2. With a swinging volley and two forehand winners, Jankovic regained the lead 3-2. But refusing to cry uncle, Vera received another opportunity when her backhand hit the net and dropped in for a winner to give her double break point. Zvonareva converted and the players were back on serve 4-4. However, the ever-crafty Jankovic fabricated two backhand down the line winners for a double break which she capitalized on for a 5-4 lead. Then, with repeated unforced errors from Zvonareva, Jankovic secured the match.

Zvonareva can still rejoice. With this showing, she will climb up a notch in the rankings from 9 to 8. On the WTA, the ranking shuffle continues. With Serena Williams withdrawing from this event due to an ankle injury, Dinara Safina, Zvonareva’s opponent in the semifinals, will become the new number 2.

Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik dismissed the number one women’s doubles team Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-4, 6-4 to take the cup. The men were also in action in Moscow. Russian Igor Kunitsyn defeated fellow countryman Marat Safin 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 to win his first ATP title.